A user reports that a PC occasionally fails to boot. The user reboots the PC, but the performance is degrading. The technician hears a strange, repetitive, ticking noise coming from the PC. Which of the following should the technician do FIRST?
A user reports that a PC occasionally fails to boot. The user reboots the PC, but the performance is degrading. The technician hears a strange, repetitive, ticking noise coming from the PC. Which of the following should the technician do FIRST?
When a computer exhibits symptoms such as failing to boot and a strange, repetitive ticking noise, it is often an indication of a failing hard drive. The ticking sound is typically associated with the read/write heads of a hard disk drive failing, which can lead to data loss if not addressed promptly. Therefore, the technician should first attempt to extract any important data from the device to prevent potential loss. Addressing the hard drive issue immediately by securing the data is crucial before proceeding with additional diagnoses or repairs.
A is the answer here. That clicking sound is the hard drive failing, get your data off this machine ASAP
when a drive is failing you need to save your data ASAP
The technician should FIRST inspect the fan, as the strange ticking noise is likely a sign of a failing fan. If a fan within the PC, such as the power supply fan or the fan on a graphics card, is not functioning correctly, it can cause the system to overheat and eventually shut down or fail to boot. Checking the fan is a quick and easy step that can help diagnose the issue and prevent further damage to the system.
The most likely cause of a clicking sound that is heard after power is applied to the motherboard when booting a workstation is D. HDD. This sound is an indication of hard drive failure. HDD stands for hard disk drive, which is a non-volatile storage device that stores data on rapidly rotating disks. Extract data = Backup data
The strange repetitive ticking noise could be an indication of a problem with one of the fans inside the PC, such as the CPU fan or the system fan. This noise might be caused by a fan obstruction or failure, and fans are crucial for cooling the components. Overheating due to a fan failure can lead to performance degradation and instability. Fan issues can cause a computer to overheat, which can lead to boot failures and degraded performance.
This is yet another example of a vague question. Your answer was actually my initial instinct as well, because the question doesn't explicitly state whether the system is running an HDD, SSD, or M.2...which is the information that can make all the difference in deciding the next best step.
Another classic comptia gotcha question. The normal thought process after the first few sentences about the ticking noise and the PC failing to boot would be that the HDD is failing, so you want to extract the data asap before it's gone. The annoying part is that they're asking what to do FIRST. Realistically, options like inspecting the fan can be checked/done quickly, so they could generally be first steps since you don't know what the problem is until you inspect something. Also, trying to extract data would generally take longer so it's generally not a first step. In this case, they gave enough information for you to assume the hard drive is failing without you having to really inspect anything. So yeah try to extract the data, and thanks comptia.
Yeah but I want to ask why extract the data when it is failing. Is it because you want to save your data? By right the first thing to do is to open the laptop
not great question A. Try to extract data .
I would say that A (try to extract data) is the correct answer. This is the first troubleshooting step that should be performed after filing a ticket, as it can help prevent data loss in case of a hard drive failure, which is one of the most likely causes of the problem.
Again, it would be nice if the question provided all of the relevant information to be able to answer the question properly. Here, we have to assume that the system is running and HDD instead of actually knowing...
clicking sound = hard drive is failing ao always backup first
That's not an absolute truth and merely an assumption.
C - while extracting the data might be a step eventually that the technician would take, the first logical step would be to quickly check the fan. The amount of time it would take to realistically check this is minutes, while extracting the data could potentially be much longer. It is potentially a HDD breaking down but it doesn't specify if there is a HDD or SDD in this question. It feels a bit of a gotcha type question just stating it is coming from the PC. I feel like it could be argued either way but I am leaning towards the Fan, Chat GPT agreed.
C. Inspect the fan. The ticking noise is likely coming from a failing fan, which could cause performance issues and eventually lead to system failure if not addressed. Inspecting the fan should be the technician's first step in resolving the issue.
Try to extract data.
The answer is (B)
Clicking would indicate a hard drive failure, so extracting and backing up the data should be top priority.
If it was RAM there would be beep codes and error messages.